Students pay their respects to student Tyler Clementi, 18, who killed himself shortly after being filmed and broadcast over the Internet during a gay encounter at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Two Rutgers undergraduates have been arrested.

This week will see a series of town hall meetings in New Jersey related to Clementi’s death. Also scheduled is a series of nationwide events tied to "National Coming Out Day" on Monday Oct. 11. Meanwhile, lawmakers in New Jersey are drafting a law that would stiffen criminal penalties for harassment via the Internet.

Will it make any difference in the fight against cyber bullying? Will it change the way hate crime laws are interpreted – particularly as they are written and applied to threats and attacks involving sexual orientation?

His roommate, Dharun Ravi, and another student, Molly Wei, have been charged with invasion of privacy. Law enforcement officials say they used a Web cam to secretly transmit images of a sexual encounter between Clementi and another man. Officials are investigating whether the pair also should be charged with a bias crime.

"This week, we sadly lost two young men who took their own lives for one unacceptable reason: they were being bullied and harassed because they were openly gay or believed to be gay,” Education Secretary Duncan said in a statement Friday. “These unnecessary tragedies come on the heels of at least three other young people taking their own lives because the trauma of being bullied and harassed for their actual or perceived sexual orientation was too much to bear.”

"This is a moment where every one of us – parents, teachers, students, elected officials, and all people of conscience – needs to stand up and speak out against intolerance in all its forms,” Duncan said, adding: “Whether it's students harassing other students because of ethnicity, disability or religion; or an adult, public official harassing the President of the University of Michigan student body because he is gay…”

In response, many celebrities have spoken out regarding the recent spate of suicides linked to sexual orientation.

“My heart is breaking for their families, their friends and for a society that continues to let this happen,” Ellen Degeneres says on her web site. “These kids needed us. We have an obligation to change this. There are messages everywhere that validate this kind of bullying and taunting and we have to make it stop. We can't let intolerance and ignorance take another kid's life.”